Rebirth of Definitive Hip-Hop and Urban Culture Brand
(New York NY) – InterMedia Partners, in partnership with portfolio company Uptown Media Group along with Blackrock Digital today announced the purchase of assets of Vibe and Vibe.com, the preeminent brand for hip-hop & R&B lifestyle and culture. Founded in 1993 by Quincy Jones and Time Warner, Vibe was an iconic brand for 16 years, responsible for setting trends among hip hop and mainstream culture prior to its recent shuttering.
“It is rare that a brand with this much history and untapped opportunity comes along. Vibe fits perfectly with our other holdings, including Soul Train and Uptown Magazine, allowing us to reach an even broader spectrum of the African American audience,” said David Koff, Partner, InterMedia Partners.
Vibe’s new leadership will include original Vibe team members Robert Miller and Leonard Burnett; Uptown Magazine Co-Founder Brett Wright and Blackrock Digital Partners Chris Smith and Parker McNaughton. This group will be responsible for the re-launch of the Vibe brand and businesses.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to restore the Vibe brand to its well respected position in the minds of both consumers and advertisers,” said original team member Len Burnett. “Together, the Vibe and Uptown brands will allow us to create many integrated digital opportunities and events to reach this dynamic consumer.”
Vibe.com will be immediately re-launched and be a greater source of focus for the new management group. Vibe Magazine will re-launch in November/December 2009, to be followed by quarterly issues in 2010. Robert Miller, who launched Vibe while at Time Warner and later bought it from them with Quincy Jones said, “As much as Vibe pioneered a whole new culture and media proposition in the 90′s the new digital paradigm offers even greater opportunity to re-position the Vibe brand for the Millennium.”
The new organization will revamp Vibe’s design, content strategy and business model to bring it back to its’ rightful stature in urban entertainment. “Vibe was always a leader in the Cultural Revolution, from music, entertainment and fashion to news and investigative reporting, offering artistic content that pushed the culture forward. We are reclaiming that mission,” said Brett Wright, Chief Creative Officer, Uptown Media Group.
The new venture will focus on developing the Vibe Lifestyle Network of targeted web sites and Uptown Media Network plus the print output of both Uptown and Vibe Magazines. The Digital Networks will be led by Chris Smith and Parker McNaughton from Blackrock Digital who will be responsible for oversight of all integrated sponsorship and ad sales across all network properties and brands. “Creating a preeminent lifestyle network anchored by 2 meaningful brands in the urban space is a fantastic opportunity that we had to get involved with, Vibe.com has been a top performing web property for so many established advertisers, and we look forward to bringing that back to life along with key partner affiliate web sites,” states Chris Smith. Blackrock was responsible for all digital sales for Vibe.com for the past four years and also represents over 20 other music and entertainment web sites that will be part of the new network strategy.
Terms of the deal were not revealed.
About InterMedia Partners
InterMedia Partners, LP is a private equity investment fund focusing on the media industry across all platforms – television, radio, publishing, internet and marketing. The current fund, InterMedia Partners VII, LP is focused on content assets which target underserved markets.
In light of evolving consumer habits, rapidly changing technologies, and the uncertainty in the advertising markets, InterMedia believes that these targeted content assets offer the right risk reward profile to optimize returns while appropriately securing investor capital.
About Uptown Media
Founded in 2004, Uptown Media Group is the only luxury lifestyle company that targets the Affluent African American (AAA) Market. UPTOWN Magazine affords luxury purveyors the broadest access to this highly sought-after male and female demographic. Uptown Media Group, LLC offers both traditional and innovative strategies, including UPTOWN Magazine (published bi-monthly with NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington DC, Charlotte and National editions), UptownLife.net, the interactive website, Uptown Social event updates and Uptown’s signature events. UPTOWN Magazine is available by subscription at www.uptownlife.net and on national newsstands, including Hudson News. UPTOWN Magazine, a toast to Luxury, Lifestyle and Living.